Eating or dancing, Salsa is a lively part of summer!  Life is easier.  The food is tastier.  Zesty salsa can spice up your meals, improve your health, and make it even easier for you to enjoy salsa.

Salsa’s not just for dipping! Add it to salads or sandwiches, mix it with rice, beans, or veggies, and perk up meat. Spice up your meals and your body at the same time by adding more summery fruits and veggies to your meals. How? Fruits and vegetables have a lot of antioxidants that keep your body "running" smoothly. Antioxidants act as the body's tiny cleaning crew.

Here's how it works: Our bodies are constantly working to generate energy. As the body works, it also produces "free radicals." Like emissions from a car engine, “free radicals” are tiny waste products from creating energy. Of course, you want to get rid of them. If you don’t, your body won’t be working as well, and you won't feel your best. You can even increase your risk of serious illness. Antioxidants in fruits and veggies can “clean out” those free radicals and can help improve the way you feel, while you're adding flavor and zest to your meals.

Start with a basic recipe:  4 large tomatoes, 1 onion, ½ cup cilantro. 3 garlic cloves, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, ½ jalapeño & a tomatillo. Mix in a blender or chop up finely. Add other veggies like zucchini or fresh corn or fruit like melon, avocado or black beans. The more you vary your fruits and vegetables, the more colorful and flavorful your meals will be. And the more “free radicals” you clean out.

Grab a variety of fruits and vegetables at our Harvest Home Farmers’ Market and use different salsa mixtures to add healthy flavor to your meals.

Salsa with Salsa

Recipe: salads

Peach, Corn & Avocado Salsa Add zip to chicken or grilled meat with this sweet treat!  

Mix and chill for ½ hour

• 2 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted, and diced

• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

• 2 ears of corn removed from the cob

• ½ red onion, minced

• ½ red bell pepper, minced

• 2 cloves garlic, grated

• ½ lime & ½ lemon, juiced

• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Add 1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced just before serving 

Melon Cucumber Salsa: Refreshing with chips or on fish or chicken or tossed into a salad

• 1 small cantaloupe or 2 cups watermelon

• 1 seedless cucumber

• 1 red onion

• 1-2 serrano chili peppers

• ¼ cup fresh cilantro

• 2 limes, juiced

• Salt to taste

Corn, Black Bean & Avocado: Black beans add more protein: Vary the amount of Jalapeno to make this hot or not so hot.

• 1 & ½ cups fresh corn kernels cut from cob

• 1 & ½ cups canned (cooked) black beans, drained and rinsed

• ½ small red onion, diced

• 1 cup diced tomato

• 1 avocado, chopped

• ¼ cup chopped cilantro

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• juice of 1 lime

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon salt

• optional: 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

Tips and tricks: Get creative with your salsa

• Eating fruits and veggies raw gives you the best taste and the most health benefits.

• The more variety of ingredients, the more help you give your body. Mix things up for flavor and health.

• Don’t be confused. Antioxidants have different names (carotenoids, lycopene, flavonoids, to mention a few) because different antioxidants do different “cleaning jobs.”

Cooking Tips:

• Add avocado just before serving salsa

• Change how “hot” your salsa is by adding more or taking out jalapeno. Seeds make these peppers hotter.  Remove them before you add to salsa

Antioxidants Power in fruits and veggies

• Dark green leafy vegetables have Vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that helps the immune system fight off disease

• Carrots have carotenoids that protect your eyes & skin. Great for dipping into salsa

• Peppers give you more carotenoids and vitamin C.

• Tomatoes have lycopene for bone health & fight heart disease

• Melons have extra water you need in the summer, plus antioxidant vitamin C.  Great for your skin

• Cucumbers have antioxidants that help your immune system & are good for skin & eyes

• Blueberries are the super fruit of antioxidants. They clean & protect all your systems

• Avocados aren't just delicious, they are powerful: 20 vitamins, minerals, antioxidants that protect your eyes & healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

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